Two more games.
That’s all that separates the Ottawa Senators from another long off-season. This one is going to seem especially daunting because in a lot of ways, the season ended for the Sens like a month ago. And even earlier than that for some fans.
The Senators have been going through the motions for awhile now and I suspect tonight will be no different as they welcome Jaromir Jagr and the Atlantic Division-winning Florida Panthers to town. It’s Ottawa’s final home game of the 2015/2016 season.
The next time we see this team at the Canadian Tire Centre, it could be a very different looking hockey club.
While it’s been a disappointing year in Ottawa, it has been the exact opposite in Florida. They knew they had a team that contend for a playoff spot this year but I don’t think anybody expected them to be this good, this soon. After a brief challenge from the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Panthers have pulled away atop the Atlantic Division and will draw the second Wild Card team in Round One of the playoffs, which right now looks like it will be the New York Islanders.
Ottawa’s line up has been pretty thin the last little while as veterans nurse various ailments and young guys get a chance to show what they can do at the NHL level. Tonight looks like more of the same. Just an optional skate for the Senators this morning so we may have to wait until game time to find how the line up will look. Marc Methot has been ruled out though and Bobby Ryan expects to play. Mark Stone and Patrick Wiercioch both skated this morning but will not play.
A best guess at the line up…
Smith-Pageau-Ryan
Hoffman-Zibanejad-Dzingel
Puempel-Lazar-Chiasson
Robinson-Paul-Neil
Claesson-Karlsson
Harpur-Ceci
Kostka-Wideman
Craig Anderson gets the start in the Ottawa goal. Puck drop is scheduled for just after 7:30 PM.
–Interesting news from yesterday as the Senators announced that effective July 1, 2016, they’ll no longer be using their in-house Capital Tickets platform and instead will be transitioning back to Ticketmaster for all ticket sales. The Ticketmaster platform is more consistent with what the rest of the league is using. Safe to say the move has raised a few eyebrows around the city because Capital Tickets was supposed to be a big part additional revenue generator for the organization. Melnyk has always been keen on the idea of additional revenue streams so to see them voluntarily give one up is sort of strange.
-Some good news on the prospect front as last night, Francis Perron was named Most Valuable Player in the QMJHL. It came as a bit of a surprise to some as Coyotes prospect Conor Garland was believed to be the favourite for the award but it’s certainly nice to see the Sens prospect get the recognition he deserves. His Rouyn-Noranda Huskies have had a ridiculous season and Perron has been front and centre. Perron finished the year with 41 goals and 108 points in just 62 games. He’s carried that over into the playoffs too, putting up 13 points in a four game sweep of the Drummondville Voltigeurs.
